Tinder's AI-powered pricing algorithm charges users over 30 years old up to 65% more than younger users for Tinder Plus subscriptions, with personalized pricing creating price variations of up to six times between different users in the same country.
Research by Consumers International and Mozilla Foundation found that Tinder uses algorithmic personalized pricing for its Tinder Plus subscription service across six countries (New Zealand, Brazil, Netherlands, South Korea, USA, and India). The study involved 96 mystery shoppers per country who signed up for Tinder and recorded the prices quoted for one-month subscriptions. On average across all countries, users aged 30-49 were charged 65.3% more than those aged 18-29. The pricing variations were extreme, with the highest prices being four to six times higher than the lowest prices within individual countries. In New Zealand, users were quoted up to 25 unique price points for the same service, with prices ranging from around $7 to over $34. Tinder previously faced a $24 million lawsuit in California for age-based pricing discrimination and settled the case while agreeing to stop charging users over 30 more than younger users in that state. The company provides minimal transparency about its pricing algorithm, only mentioning deep in its privacy policy that it uses information to deliver 'offers and discounts tailored to your profile.' Consumer surveys showed 56% cited data privacy as a top concern with personalized pricing, while 33% highlighted the unfairness of charging different prices to different people.
Domain classification, causal taxonomy, severity scores, and national security assessments were LLM-classified and may contain errors.
Unequal treatment of individuals or groups by AI, often based on race, gender, or other sensitive characteristics, resulting in unfair outcomes and unfair representation of those groups.
AI system
Due to a decision or action made by an AI system
Intentional
Due to an expected outcome from pursuing a goal
Post-deployment
Occurring after the AI model has been trained and deployed